Reykjavik Open to Celebrate 50th Anniversary Edition

The 2014 Reykjavik Open, from March 4th-12th, 2014 in the capital of Iceland, will be the 50th anniversary edition of what is quite a special open tournament. The 2012 edition was voted the third best open tournament in the world by the Association of Chess Professionals (ACP).

Like in previous years, the tournament will be held in Harpa, Reykjavik’s spectacular new music hall and conference centre by the harbour. It's only a five-minute walk to downtown Reykjavik, a must for any chess player to visit at least once in his life.

The Reykjavik Open 2014 is expected to be very strong. The 2013 edition included for example Anish Giri, Wesley So and Pavel Eljanov, the winner of the tournament and the youngster from China, Wei Yi, who became the youngest grandmaster in the world with a great performance in Reykjavik.

The 2012 edition featured the Women’s World Champion, Hou Yifan, and then world number seven, Fabiano Caruana, who won the tournament ahead of a strong field.

Last year 227 players from 37 countries participated, including 35 grandmasters, 19 of which had a Elo rating of 2600 and higher. The total prize fund in 2014 will be €15.000, including many special prizes for various ages and rating categories, in addition to the traditional top women prize. As in previous years, the goal of organizers to is invite many of the youngest and most promising chess players in the world, as well as the strongest women players around.

The 2012 edition was voted the third best open tournament in the world by the Association of Chess Professionals (ACP). Only Gibraltar and Aeroflot Open were higher on the list.

Flying to Iceland

Icelandair is offering packages (flight and hotel including breakfast) which include a flight from their destinations at excellent prices. Icelandair's destinations include:

Denmark (Copenhagen)

France (Paris)

Germany (Frankfurt and Munich)

Netherlands (Amsterdam)

Norway (Oslo)

Sweden (Stockholm)

UK (London, Manchester and Glasgow)

USA (Boston, Denver, New York and Seattle)

All information about the packages can be found at the website: www.reykjavikopen.com. Players using Icelandair-packages get a 25% discount off the entrance fee.

History

The city of Reykjavik has sponsored the tournament since its inception in 1964, when Mikhail Tal won it with a record 12½ points out of 13. The tournament was initially held every two years, but has since 2008 taken place every year. It was closed in its early years, but has been an open event since the 1980s.

Throughout its history the Reykjavik Open has featured many of the strongest chess players in the world at the time, including Mikhail Tal, Nona Gaprindashvili, David Bronstein, Vasili Smyslov, Bent Larsen, Friðrik Ólafsson, Mark Taimanov, Lev Polugaevsky, Jan Timman, Victor Korchnoi, Samuel Reshevsky, Jóhann Hjartarson, Anthony Miles, Nigel Short, Hikaru Nakamura, Judit Polgar, Magnus Carlsen, Alexander Grischuk, Fabiano Caruana and Hou Yifan.

Below is the atmosphere video ChessVibes produced back in March 2012:

Much More than a Chess Tournament

As in earlier years, several chess related events will take place at the same time as the tournament, including the now famous the Reykjavík Open Chess Pub Quiz and the Golden Circle sightseeing tour that includes stops at Geysir and Bobby Fischer's final resting place in the southern part of Iceland. And given the favourable exchange rate of the Icelandic króna, Iceland is one of the most attractive places in the world to visit and play in chess tournaments.

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